The concession by the
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the latest in a string of 50
activists, whose prosecutions have been overturned following the
revelation of secret policing evidence.

In this instance the CSP paid a total of £43,000 to the 29
activists after it emerged that information gathered by
undercover policeman Mark Kennedy had been wrongly withheld from
the trial of the protesters, who blocked a train carrying coal
from entering the Drax power station in Yorkshire in 2009.

Their convictions were overturned in 2009 following admission
that evidence had been withheld, but now the CPS has been forced
to cover the legal costs and out-of-pocket expenses of the
activists.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas said it had been “a complete
and total failure” not to disclose the evidence gathered by
Mark Kennedy, adding that “although it was beyond argument
that the involvement of Mark Kennedy should have been disclosed,
it was not.”

Kennedy is believed to have infiltrated the ranks of the protest
group for seven years. He is thought to have transported a number
of them to and from the protest site, as well as taking part in a
reconnaissance expedition.

After dropping them off at the
protest site, he immediately phoned his police colleagues to
inform them about the protest.

Thomas said it was likely either the prosecutors or police were
responsible for failing to disclose Kennedy’s involvement in the
court case and ordered an official inquiry into the matter to
take place.

The court of appeal found the CPS guilty of withholding the
information, and ordered them to pay the legal charges of those
wrongly convicted, saying they “failed to make a disclosure
fundamental to the defense.”

Home Secretary Theresa May has also ordered an inquiry to be held
into the total number of activists who have been wrongly
convicted due to evidence from undercover policing operations.

Wrongly convicted protester Robbie Gillett said: “It is
essential that the upcoming public inquiry into undercover
policing includes the CPS. The use of undercover police against
political movements is about controlling and stifling political
dissent. The Crown Prosecution Service is part of this and must
not escape public scrutiny.”